I hate it when it's hot
by Bryna
Summary: This is a chapter story that has to do with a street wise girl named Max who meets the newsies while she is trying to get contol over her life in the year 1900.
1. Chapter 1

I hate it when it's hot…the cold can be fixed with a few blankets and stew…but the heat… well that's just a down hill battle. And you know with the heat comes that ever present stink that over comes everything in this god forsaken city. On cloths, animals, buildings and I think it even invaded my very skin! It wasn't supposed to be like this…this is supposed to be America… the second heaven…with the streets paved with gold…where no one ever went hungry or got sick…

It's funny how people lie…I mean you would think the first guy that can over here and discovered what a hell whole this place was would have spread the wealth you know…give the unsuspecting peasant a heads-up for once and just say, "don't spend you life savings on a one way ticket to hell...save it and buy a sandwich!" but no that same bum had to go around with all his other friends on the first voyage over and spread this damn lie…

God I'm hot…and hungry…and to tell the truth I could use a bowl of stew and a sandwich right now…I don't know why I am blaming the heat any way I mean it only smells because people have to dump their "waste" on to the street and of course the city doesn't hire anyone to pick it up…sorry I'm mumbling…I always mumble when I am hungry. To tell the truth I didn't even spend my life savings on the trip over…no that's on my smuck parents or whoever before them…never met um myself…my parents I mean. I was left in an orphanage when I was a baby…lucky I know. I mean I got three meals a day and cloths on my back. All I had to do was suck up to a few nuns…say a few prayers…get a few points with the man upstairs…and I was golden. But then when I turned nine I was supposed to go to the factory and work and so I did. I went into that damn sweat shop every day to make sure that I didn't lose those three meals a day and the cloths on my back. I saw a bunch of kids around being all high and mighty about it. Like they were to good to go work for a livin…of course I also saw those same bunch of kids get kicked out on their asses…I knew I had to appease these nuns…and I did it for survival. But this city never stops creating more mouths with not enough hands to feed um… and when the nuns saw how much cash I was rackin in compared to even those who were workin…they kick me out too…said that I could provide for myself and that they needed my bed for someone who couldn't. See I stuck out…the kids that were going would skip out on days or hold out on their earnings…I though that by going every day and givin everythin I had that I would be taken care of. But we all have to learn sometime that life isn't fair.

Sorry I have just been mumbling on and I forgot to introduce myself…my name is Maxine… but I only answer to max…ha I say that like someone is even going to be interested enough to call on me in a simultaneous moment in which I anxiously want to answer. But no, I mostly keep to myself. It is dangerous enough to be a girl on the streets, the last thing I need is to be someone people know. See when people know your face…name…whatever one of two things happen, they think they have some sort of claim over ya… and your life isn't your own any more…you have to think of how your actions reflect them and how you then suddenly have some sort of responsibility to make sure their ok. This is bad for so many reasons but the one that always keeps me running is the fact that I can barely make sure I am ok the last thing I need is to have to keep checking the schlep next to me for vitality signs. The second reason is that the more you are recognizable the more you can be picked out in crowed and if you can be picked out in a crowd…by the wrong person…then who knows what could happen to you. I mean think about it…if it is a cop then you get sent to the refuge…if it is a thief you get robbed, if it's a gang you can the crap kicked out of ya, if it's late at night in an abanded alley way you get raped and if it's a nun seeing you get to much money then you get thrown out on your ass….yup personally I'd rather remain a mystery to others…and in this way fully know myself comin and goin. This may seem selfish but my life, person, and the few belongings in this knapsack are the only things that I own out right.

I'm sixteen now and I think I have been moving long enough…going from place to place gets tired and confusing…I mean most slums look the same and trying to find safe alleys to sleep in is hard enough without trying to remember if it was in queens that you took a left after that sleeping bum or a right…yup I think I am going to stay in one place for awhile.


	2. Chapter 2

As I was sayin I think it would be a good idea to stick to one general area. Ya know, get a job, a room…it's been so long since I've slept in a bed and well what else am I doin with my life but sulkin around. So good there's a new years resolution for ya…I'm finally going to grow up and settle down. I figure I'll just go down this road here…see there… see all these taverns and liquor joints. Well all I have to do is wait. Wait until some ploughed guy walks through that swingin door..rob'em blind…and in no time I got easy money. First I'll get a sandwich…then I get a room in a cheap lodging house…ok time to stop dreamin here he comes.

See how easy that was…a quick bump…a flick of the wrist… sticky fingers and what do I get…15 bucks…man I should do this more often. You are probably surprised at how I could get so much money but all you have to do is wait outside a bar for a rich lookin drunk guy to step through. Of course this could be an extreme pain in the ass. Do you know how long you would have to wait out of these slimy places for an upper-crust jerk to pull through? Well lets just say I wouldn't set my watch to it…if I had one that is. Besides look at all the risks. I mean anybody could of saw me…lets say a cop then I'm in the refuge…lets say another crook well then I'm out of the money and probably a black eye to boot. Thats why you have to start slow…work your way up…be smart. I'll tell ya half the people locked up deserve to be there…not for doin the crime…but for bein stupid enough to get caught.

Well enough boring you wit antidotes, I gotta get something ta eat before I talk yer ear off. Ok first things first gotta find a cheap joint. I would just go to a vendor but who knows what they put inta that food. I mean at least a restaurant has gotta have some type of health code…even if it is foraged. Where to eat where to eat…ah there's a place and it's just runed down enough too…not to slummy to get ya sick…and not to hoity toity ta get ya thrown outta. It's gotta big sign over the top that says Tibbeys. So to give ya a play by play I walk in…sit in a booth and wait for a waiter to grace me wit his presence. I figger I'll get a roast beef sandwich wit uhh horseradish. The waiter comes and I place my order.

Once the guy turns I hear a little ding of the bell that's over the door. And what comes through but a sea of loud confusion…correction a sea of loud, smelly, dirty confusion. Shit I wish they'd shut up…my head is poundin enough cause of not eatin for three days, the last thing I need is a bunch a singin cockroaches climbin the walls. I tell ya if those boys weren't like 5 times bigger and 10 times stronger then me I'd give um a piece of my mind. But what ya gunna do right. I leave after finishin my lunch...but before I can walk through the door…this goon wit what else but a cow boy hat and a bandanna plows right inta me. I swear bein born and raised in the creepiest city on earth you would think I have seen it all! Oh well on to that warm bed…


	3. Chapter 3

Now the first thing to findin a place is knowin your budget. Ya know…how much yer willin to spend and all that. Now seein as how I don't have a job, I'm lookin for cheap. Now if I was gunna try to push it I may just get an apartment. Ya know for privacy and all. But once you get done wit the company of the water that leaks in the cellin, the mold on the walls and all the rats runnin on the floor…who can say they are really alone. So I think I'll just get a bed in a cheap lodging house. Now speakin as a street rat it has been awhile since I have slept in a bed wit a roof over my head and all that and the first mistake us street urchins do is just live in the first Lodgin house we see. Now the smart way to do it is to shop around…check out the prices... ya know. So that when someone tries to cheat ya you can hit um wit, "well dat place down da street will give me a room for half dat price." Then you can get da real story ya know.

So as I was tourin the lodgin houses on Dwaine Street…I figured that the average price was about a dime a day. Then when I came to the end of the street and was about to turn around I came upon da last one. Even though it said News Boys Lodging House on the front I figger money is money and I highly doubt the landlord or the care taker to give a rip if a dame stays there as long as she's got the cash. On my way up the stoop I take a look at my surroundings. The stars are already out and I figger it about 8-9 o'clock. I can't believe it is this late. Well ya know what dey say…time flys when your tryin not to get took. Well in my moments of reflection I hit my boot on the tip of the next stair and stubbed my toe. In a normal reaction as anyone has had I looked down to look at the menacing concrete to see the damage. Well my foot is fine but the stair way looks like it has been through hell and back. The rail is hangin by a thread; the stairs have soot and this brown/green gook that I don't even think I want ta know what it is. While remembering not to step in that crap I finally make it to the door and go in the last contender.

It's average I suppose, wit the wallpaper fallin off and all the curtins and furniture moth eaten. I go to da front desk to get the information on da joint.

Ay ya da owner a da joint

Yea da names Kloppman can I help ya

Do ya got any beds open

Yea…it costs 5 cents a day

5 Cents a day…_wow I can't believe dis…half da price…wait wut's da catch?_

Yea but it's a good deal and all. Spare cloths get washed wit dis rate…if ya have any that is.

He looked me over wit a disgusted look in his eye. Can't really say I blame him…years on da street will do dat to a girl.

I got cloths and what I ment was dat it's a bit cheap…_shit why did I just say…fuck he's gunna raise da price right now I can feel it!_

It's cheap cause charity groups like to keep the prices low on child housing

Well lucky day fur me I guess huh

I say dat wit a smile…who knows I may need dis guy yet I mean he is da landlord and all. I lay down da nickel and was about to get a better hold on my knapsack so I could run upstairs when I felt a tug at my sleeve. I turn to face the old man

Ya have ta sign in first Ms…..?

Ms Petrillo…Max Petrillo…_god I'm getting a bed I can't wait pillows and sheets…uhhh a mattress…_

I wrote my name in da ledger and was about to go upstairs when he stoped me again…

Right up the stairs…it's da first door to your right…that's da bunk room asked da kids where the empty one is and sleep there. (_no shit) _I don't care what time ya come in but ya have ta pay by 10:30 pm to sleep here and I lock da door at 11.(_ya don't care when I come in…how am I gunna get in if the doors lock? Smuck) _ The washroom is further in the bunk room…it's very hard to miss (_no shit…it's probably the da only other room in dis dump)_…if you have any problem wit da guys tell me and I'll straighten it out (_right like ya really care_).

After that I figured he was done so I continued to go up when he called me…

Kid…ya are a newsie right…only newsies can stay here…(_shit I'll be your mother if it means room and board for 5 cents a day)_

I gave him a node and finally went up the stairs to see what a nickel can buy me in New York…


	4. Chapter 4

Apparently not very much…I can't believe that guy...what was his name…Kloppman…yea that was it. Gave me that direction speech…first door to the right my ass…it's the only door here. Glad he saved me from bein lost seein as how it was complicated and all…that old man has really got to retire soon I think he's lost it.

I lazily put my hand on the knob to open the door. Great it's stuck. Wit one large swing of the hips I got it open. I was about to give myself a pat on the back when I realized how hard I pushed it. It did two discomforting things. One it gave a swing of air in my direction that made a large breeze go in my face. This may seem harmless because you have no idea about the smell to this joint. It reminded me of this one time when I was about twelve and I snuck into one of those large monument/tomb things that rich people use for their dead. Seemed like a good idea at the time until you take a big whiff. Didn't smell like death…they had incense burning all the time. No it smelled like old wood, body odor and heat. Yes heat has a smell and trust me it is not good.

The second reason is that the door hit the opposite wall wit such a bang that even the rats were lookin in my direction. I stand there for a minuet just starin at the opposite wall hopein they would lose interest…I was wrong. They just stayed quiet…lookin at me like I was the first bum they ever saw. I figured that life was too short to stand in that doorway forever. I did pay the nickel like everybody else…and I was so lookin forward to that bed. With that final thought I walk right up to this short, greasy lookin Italian kid (I figure I might as well stick with my own). He had a cigar practically hanging out of his mouth and he was givin me a look over... like I was about to raid his pocket or somethin.

"Da guy at da front desk told me ta ask which bed was free" _man a bed…pillow here I come_

He gave me a nod as if approvin and pointed to a bed on the other side of the room by the window.

"You can have da bed above mine sweet face" _well at least he didn't call me doll_

I give him a nod and walk deliberately to my bed. See people are still lookin at me and the last thing I need to seem is desperate. I stuff my knapsack in-between the mattress and the frame….I'll go through it later. While I was still crouching (tryin to stick it all the way back so that no body could steal it while I was sleepin) I feel this tap on my shoulder. I turn around to find that same kid wit the cigar hanging over me offerin me his hand. Yea right like I am goin ta take that. I push myself off the ground and meet him at eye level. He may be short but bein on 5'1…he still had a few inches on me.

"Can I help ya"

He pulled out his hand…spit in it and began, "my name is Higgins…uh Racetrack Higgins" _wow your mother must have had a sense of humor_

"that's nice" _what else am I suppose ta say…I don't want to give him my name…that's way too personal…go doesn't he have a life…can't he go play wit his friend or sumptin._

It seemed like forever but he still didn't put his hand down and leave so again I ask, "can I help ya?"

"Well yea…aren't ya goin ta shake my hand?" _no _

I just stand there lookin at him for a few minuets and in the mean time he hand been consecutively lookin at his drawn hand then back at me until a light seemed to come on in his head.

"did it disgust ya…da spit I mean…sorry I ain't around broads too often…"_he keeps rambling on like that for a while and I let him. It doesn't disgust me you stupid ginny…I've probably been on the street longer then you have! But everybody knows that you only spit shake wit a friend…someone you have known for awhile…not some smuck who just a moment before pointed out a bed and called me "sweet face" ugh…I figure I'll play along wit dis damsel crap…anything that gets me closer to that bed!_

" it's ok…if you don't mind I'm rather tired at the present moment and I would like to acquire some rest before tomorrow…"…_haha hows that for lady-like…I kill myself…_

"uh yea sure sorry to disturb ya."

He walked away….hows that for ya he walked away…and he even took his hat off and bowed…I should do that more often…if I can stomach it…


	5. Chapter 5

Once he left I took off my warn boots and shawl and stuck um next to my knapsack. I got up from my crouched position and finally turned down the rough fabric of the bottom bunk and began to scoot my body into a comfy position. God you just don't know how good this feels. I haven't slept in a bed in weeks. Well good night all!

BOOM….OWWW….god what is dat noise……shit my head hurts….it does take long for me to find out what happened. Apparently that racetrack guy jumped outta bed and wit the surprise I bump my head…and trust me I'll have a great big souvenir to show for it later. As my senses return and my head stops ringin I realize that all the boys are gettin up and are gunna go to newspaper row. I figure the best course of action is to cover my head wit the covers and fall back asleep again…

The next thing I know the sun is peering through the thin sheet and my eyes are burnin. Ummm…I really don't think I'm gunna get outta bed today. I mean I still have about 14 bucks left and I am so comfy. Just for curiosity's sake I look out the window which is block by my bed. It looks to be about 8'oclock. I push off the window sill and fly back into a lying position…yup that's just that I'm gunna do…sleep all day…I lift up my arms to stretch and inhale through my noise…ugh…maybe I should take a bath…and maybe unpack a bit and hide my shit before the boys come back…I hate carryin all this money around anyways…So I get outta bed…cautious so that I don't bump my head again…I grab the crap that I stuck between the mattress yesterday night and head to the wash room.

I walk through the swingin door and rumble through the filth and muck tryin to find a somewhat clean tube. I'm not lookin for perfect…I just don't want to share a bath wit whatever it is that is clingin to the edges of the metal soakers that are sprawled across the floor. I carefully walk across the muck, soap, dirt, and foam all over the floors (so I don't slip and split my head) and inspect the tubes drapin the floor lookin for the most bearable. After ten inspections I finally find one that is useable. I fully put it right side up and drag it to the faucet…kick the one that is already occupying the space…and start fillin the thing wit water.

Once it's filled and I stop pumpin…I push it away so that I can fit in the space and in the process a flush of water drips out of the metal container…oh well more water to this floor would be like addin a rain drop to a flood…is it really gunna make a difference? I put my knapsack onto the counter and start to scrounge the room for soap, shampoo and if I'm lucky…conditioner. In the back of the room I see a closet and to the right of that…a row of stalls…I figure if it's anywhere it's in that there. I open the closet door and start dumpin all the contents to the floor tryin to find my prized items…soap check…I put the container on the bench (left to the closet) and keep searchin for the rest. A few moments I find the shampoo and an unexpected surprise…a towel! After that short celebration I see a shinny container way in the back…I finish dumpin the rest of the crap on the floor and finally find the conditioner…clearly someone was trying to hide it…boy are they gunna be pissed…

I finally take all the things I collected and put them on the counter near my knapsack. I take off my cloths and put them on the counter too…I do have another pair of cloths but if I wash these they will take forever to dry and I'm not planin on stayin here that long…I grab the cleanin products and put them on the floor next to tube with the exception of the towel and finally take a bath…

The water is freezing cold but because the temperature outside is about 90 degrees it really is quiet refreshin… From here I realize how bad my condition is…dirt and dried mud is caked onto my scalp and hair…not to mention the rest of my body and judging from my facial reflection in the water... I have a lot to clean there too. After about an hour of scrubbin rinsin and repeatin I am finally clean. I figure that while I am here I might as well enjoy myself…I mean I did spend a nickel on the accomadations…I snicker at that and I slide down so that I can lay my head on the edge…out of the corner of my eye I see the large scar I have on my left hand. See that's my stealin hand…awile back when I was just startin to wait outta saloons to rob blind the boozed out gentlemen …anyways it was late at night and I was leanin on a building across the street and I saw this large figure.

He stumble out of the pub but even from across the street I can see the shine of the gold and the twinkle of the diamond as it reflected off of the moon light. I figured he was as good as any…so I started trailin him…anyways to make a long story short when I bumped him wit my right shoulder and went for the jewels he caught me…and slashed my hand all the way to the bone. He wasn't even about to stop there…yup I'm surprised I got outta that one wit my life still intact.

On my neck I have another slash. That was when I was about seven…see I was still livin in the orphanage and before they made me start workin at the factory I had daily chores that I had to do around the joint. Anyways it was my day to clean the bathrooms and I slipped on something or other and sliced my neck…all the way across of it…you know the part of the neck where the hair line starts to meet. As a matter of fact the nun that patched me up…I think her name was….ah yea it was sister Anne…anyways she made this joke…I can't remember it exactly but the punch line was that if woulda fell forward I would have slit my throat.

I got bruishes all on my stomach and rib cage from when I joined the Gophers and I got a indent on my throat from the time that I tried to rob their leader and got caught…sorry to talk your head off again…I must be gettin hungry again…


End file.
